


A New Model Of The Universe

by Trismegistus (Lebateleur)



Category: The Queen's Thief - Megan Whalen Turner
Genre: Aftermath of Torture, Emotional Baggage, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Emotions, Hurt/Comfort, Multi, Redemption, Threesome - F/M/M, Unresolved Emotional Tension
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-19
Updated: 2017-08-19
Packaged: 2018-12-17 11:21:53
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,348
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11850531
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lebateleur/pseuds/Trismegistus
Summary: After the events ofThe King of Attolia, Attolia's former master of spies finds himself adrift and turns to the Magus of Sounis for guidance.





	A New Model Of The Universe

**Author's Note:**

  * For [pianolise](https://archiveofourown.org/users/pianolise/gifts).



The Magus of Sounis was seated in the library when the messenger found him. He had his face turned toward the windows and his eyes are closed. A scroll was spread across the table in front of him, ready for his perusal, but he was not studying it. He accepted the letter from the messenger with a slight air of dishumor. It would not burnish his reputation to have been found basking in the sun.

He waited until the messenger had left the room to look at the envelope that had just been entrusted to his care. When he did, his face darkened. Its author was not someone with whom he has ever had occasion to correspond, although he recognizes the handwriting by sight. His fingers drummed for a minute against the edge of the table. Then he drew a breath as if steeling himself for something potentially unpleasant, and opened it.

_Greetings, to the Magus of Sounis._

_I do not know how to begin a letter of this nature, and so I will set aside artifice and move directly to the point. Doubtlessly you have already heard that my successor has been named. I am not used to leisure and my mind grows restless without sufficient occupation. Should you find yourself similarly idle in Eddis, I wonder if you would share your thoughts on the new theory of heliocentrism._

_Please accept my apologies for the state of my handwriting. My fingers are not what they once were._

He sat and looked at the letter for a long time, the gears in his mind turning over slowly as he worked out what angle Eugenides pursued, for his sources had already told him that if it was not to be the axe for Attolia's former Master of Spies, neither was it to be a villa in the Gede Valley, and the idea that the spymaster could have written him unbeknownst to Attolia or her king beggared belief. There was no question in the Magus's mind but that Eugenides had kept the man alive for a purpose; at the present time he simply lacked sufficient insight into what that purpose must be.

Still, there was nothing objectionable about the letter itself; indeed, the Magus knew from personal experience that the former Master of Spies possessed a formidable intellect and it was all too easy to imagine what frustrations he must be undergoing now, with no purpose toward which to bend it. And for all that he has made the most of his access to Eddis's library during his time here, he cannot deny that he has occasionally found himself wanting for some variation to his days. Neither, he supposed, could it hurt to tease out his interlocutor's knowledge of the natural sciences to compare it to his own. 

It takes more time than he would like to settle on a salutation. 

_Greetings, to a fellow enthusiast of the natural sciences._

_Your handwriting offered no trouble. Please be at ease on that acount. To your previous request: although there is much to credit in the accepted models, I wonder if you are familiar with the theories of Aristarchus. I believe I have found some fragments of his works—long considered lost—in the library here, which I enclose for your perusal._

He signed the letter and handed it to the attendant who had arrived with a tray of dried fruit and cheeses. Absorbed as he had been in deciding which passages from the Aristarchus to omit in the copy he made for the spymaster, he had labored straight through the noontime meal. 

The weather turned bad shortly thereafter, with lowering grey clouds pouring in from the coast and rain that sheeted against the windows day and night, and so it was some days before he received a reply. 

_Thank you for transcribing the Aristarchus, which I have read with interest. The surviving passages do not wholly lend credence to the theory; however, one may propose statements to fill the lacunae that make the hypothesis much more believable. For instance—_ and here the letter went on to posit possible reconstructions of the missing sections that largely aligned with the actual passages the Magus had omitted. His estimation of the former spymaster grew; clearly the man's intellect extended beyond the ability to identify and remove his Queen's enemies.

The letter continued: _When I discussed these theories with His Majesty several nights past, he both found them reasonable and offered additional insights that left me even surer of my conclusions._

The Magus made a face; he did not like the thought that Eugenides had uncovered the fragments before him, and it rankled that he had not spoken of them to the Magus either. Or perhaps he had. After all, only a fool would believe that the former Thief had not read every one of the spymaster's letters before the Magus himself, and he would not have been surprised to learn it was Eugenides who had put him up to discussing the theory in the first place. But why? The topic was vastly interesting, but it was interesting for its own sake. It could not help Eugenides to become a king, nor could it aid Attolia in fending off the wolves at its gates. In the Magus's opinion, Eugenides could spare little time for thoughts of anything else. 

So great was the Magus's habitual exasperation that it was a moment before his eyes snagged on the words that should have caught his attention from the start. _When I discussed these theories with His Majesty several nights past..._ So Attolis and his disgraced former spymaster had spoken with each other, at least once, and at night. The Magus felt confident he knew more of Eugenides' activities than almost anyone else outside of his inner circle, and certainly more than anyone in Eddis or Sounis. His sources had said nothing of any meeting between the two. And yet, here he was, writing of it openly, and as an aside at that.

_Greetings, to a fellow scholar of antiquities_

_I find much to admire in your proposed reconstruction of Aristarchus's theories, but see much less wisdom in a master spy referring so matter-of-factly to a meeting between him and his sovereign that is most likely known to few others but would be of such interest to so many._

He regretted the letter that evening. If Relius had been ill-considered in his choice to discuss the meeting so openly, to draw further attention to it in his response had been even more so. He also felt keenly he would not have done had he not still been smarting over the idea of Eugenides discovering the missing manuscripts first. 

He was surprised when the next letter came, and even more so when he read it.

_Your observation is, of course, correct. But in my defense, I am, correctly speaking, only a former master spy. Moreover, I would be most grateful if any of those who take an interest in my discussions with His Majesty would speculate as to their purpose, for on that point I am at as much a loss as are they._

_I believe the messengers through which we have exchanged this correspondence are as secure as any can be, but you are nevertheless right in pointing out my failure._

_They have both forgiven me failures far bigger than this. I am not sure why._

He sat for a long time with the letter folded in his hands. Then he reached for paper and pen, and began to write.

_Greetings, to Relius of Attolia,_

_We often tell ourselves stories of the gods to convey lessons that would otherwise be too difficult to hear. But I think in this instance a comparison to the heliocentric model is more apt. If the theory is correct, then the sun draws the planets to itself and they can no more break free of its orbit than become stars themselves. They are simply there because that is what they must do in the presence of the sun, and no further reason is necessary._

**Author's Note:**

> Dear pianolise: I too was intrigued by those chapters in _The King of Attolia_. Your prompt highlighted everything about them that so intrigued me. Thank you for providing the opportunity to explore it more here. I hope you enjoy reading.


End file.
